Bayonne DPW employee arrested for making threats

A Bayonne city employee was arrested on Monday on charges that he made terroristic threats.

Derel Turner, 49 was arrested on Monday by Hudson County Sheriff's officers. Turner's ex-girlfriend, Mechelle Taylor, said the charges were filed because Turner threatened her life -- using a city telephone.

At 3:15 p.m. on Monday, Sheriff's officers arrested Turner at his home on 12th Street in Bayonne. Turner, who is an employee of the Bayonne Department of Public Works, had a warrant for his arrest out of Rahway for making terroristic threats.

Turner is a Department of Public Works employee who made $27,322 last year. Taylor said Turner currently works at Veterans Stadium in Bayonne. Calls inquiring about the status of his current employment with the city were not returned by press time.

Taylor said she has twice filed domestic violence complaints against Turner, with the most recent incident occurring in October 2011. She said after the court date was set for the most recent complaint, Turner called her on Saturday from a Bayonne DPW telephone number and threatened to snap her neck and put a bullet in her forehead.

Taylor said she filed a complaint with the Rahway Police Department, which put out a warrant for Turner's arrest.

According to the arrest report, Hudson County Sheriff's officers arrived at Turner's house on Monday in order to make the arrest and found Turner was not home. They waited for about an hour before observing him return to the house.

The officers saw Turner leave the house through the back door and followed him through an outside door to the house's basement, where one of the officers found Turner hiding under a table.

Officers also had a search warrant for a black revolver they believed was in Turner's house, but the gun was not found.